She allows me to stay in her office and I lay down on the bed, instantly falling asleep. I’m woken a few times to questions like if I’d like to go home or insisting on writing me a pass, but I insist on staying put, at least until after lunch. I’m sure once Noah gets his sweet revenge, I’ll be more than happy to head home and start working on cleaning the place up, but for now, I’m going back to sleep.
The bell for lunch rings loudly through the nurse’s office and I jolt awake, surprised to see Tully sitting across from me on the other bed. “What the fuck are you doing here?” I grumble as a yawn rips through me.
She shrugs her shoulders. “History was boring me so I thought I’d come and hang out, but turns out you’re even more boring.”
“Sorry,” I chuckle as I drag myself off the bed and to my feet, loving that the pain killers have seemed to dull the ongoing ache in the back of my ribs. “Come on, I’ve been dying to see what Noah has planned for Monica.”
“I know,” she grins, excitedly. “If I know Noah, it will be brutal and humiliating. He won’t let her get away with this. He’ll embarrass her in front of everyone, that’s probably why he’s waited for lunch.”
“Where is he?” I question.
“Don’t know. He and Rivers disappeared after homeroom.”
There they go disappearing again.
“Tully,” I sigh as my mood plummets. “What the hell are they into?”
She shakes her head. “I…I can’t.”
“Tully…”
“I’m sorry, Henley. Noah would kill me if I said anything. He’ll tell you when he’s ready. Hell, the only reason I know about it is because I overheard them talking when they thought I wasn’t home.”
“Just…is it bad?”
She cringes and shakes her head. “I mean…it’s kind of bad, but not as bad as you think. All you need to know is that they’re both good guys and they wouldn’t be doing it if they didn’t have to.”
“You know this just makes more questions, right?”
Tully grins and nods as she pushes open the door. “Just focus on Monica’s takedown. Like I said, it’s going to be brutal and I swear, it’ll have you completely forgetting about the boys’ disappearing act.”
“Fine,” I groan, looping my arm through Tully’s and dragging her along, trying to ignore the fact that she’s known all along and still hasn’t told me.
The closer we get to the cafeteria, the louder the whispers become and the more my excitement rises back up. This is what I’ve been waiting all day for. I can deal with Noah and Rivers’ disappearing act later. As for now, it’s ‘Monica takedown’ time.
The closer we get to the cafeteria, the louder the murmurs become.
“Holy shit. Did you see that?”
“Who’s pregnant?”
“Shit, someone’s fucked.”
“Rebecca Limwits screwed three guys last weekend. It’s got to be her.”
“No, it’s Monica.”
“Bullshit. It’s got to be a prank.”
The more whispers I hear, the quicker I drag Tully along. “Jesus,” she laughs. “There’s no need to rush. If you and Noah tough it out for a while, I’m sure you’ll see plenty of this shit.”
That just makes me move faster. The idea of Monica being taken down seems to be getting me off. If Candice could somehow go down with her, that’d be perfect, but I’m not sure that’s going to happen today. Don’t worry though, she’ll get her own eventually. I’ll make sure of it.
We get to the cafeteria and I barge my way through the door and come to a startling halt.
“What the actual fuck?” I laugh as I take it all in.
Blue and pink helium balloons fill every inch of the roof and a massive ‘Congratulations on your baby’ sign spreads from one side of the room to the other. Streamers and confetti litter the tables while Rivers walks around handing out sparklers and confetti bombs to everyone in the room.
What really gets my attention is the massive blue box in the middle of the table, begging to be opened with a grinning Noah sitting right behind it.
“What’s in the box?” I ask Tully as she laughs at the state of the room.
“I’ve got no idea, but I can’t wait to find out.”
This time, she’s the one doing the dragging as she pulls me into the room. “Here you go,” Rivers says as he passes us. He hands us each a confetti bomb and instructs us to wait for Noah’s ‘ok’ to set it off.
“Aye, aye, Captain,” Tully says, taking the bombs from him.
He spanks her ass as he passes while giving her a wink that has her melting. “That’s more like it.”
I shake my head and make my way over to the grinning idiot sitting by the box. “What’s in the box?” I ask, knowing there’s no way in hell he’s going to tell me. After all, he’s made me wait all day. I’m sure he has no issue with making me wait just a little while longer.